Monday, April 13, 2015

One Texas state legislator seems to think that her "religious freedom" allows her to be rude to voters. Not only is she proposing anti-gay legislation, but she has also refused to meet with a gay constituent in order to discuss it.

State Rep. Molly White (R-Belton) has proposed legislation that would allow businesses to refuse to serve customers on religious grounds. The first-year Republican lawmaker has also proposed legislation seeking to make the state’s ban on same-sex marriage immune from court rulings.

. . . But White’s staff has said trying to discuss the issues with her “would be a waste of time." The Temple Daily Telegram reported
last week that White’s staff had initially greeted Frank Carlson of
Equality Texas, before turning him away upon learning who he
represented.

Her staff told Carlson, who works on behalf of the largest LGBT
rights organization in Texas, to “drop off your literature and leave.”
White’s staff informed Carlson that the lawmaker “is against anything
LGBT.”

“I conveyed that the representative has stances on some issues and
that she isn’t likely to change her mind on them,” White’s chief of
staff Hannah Bell told the Temple Daily Telegram. “We try to be a
transparent office and I told them that they needed to meet with
individuals that shared their viewpoint.

Lawmakers are not required by law to meet with their constituents, but it is a courtesy which they should avail themselves of, even if the two parties have conflicting points of view. And those who would applaud White's stance should keep in mind that her actions have unintended consequences which could boomerang. After all, they would have no grounds for complaint if a legislator who doesn't share their point of view decides to not to meet with them.

A very small consolation is that White doesn't reserve her rude behavior solely for the lgbt community:

White previously made national news by instructing her staff to make Muslims visiting her office declare their allegiance to the United States. “We will see how long they stay in my office,” White remarked on Facebook.

“Rep. White was elected to represent all of her
constituents, even those whose views she doesn’t share,” Smith said. “It
may not be her job to agree with all of her constituents, but it is her
job to listen to them.”

About Me

Alvin McEwen is 46-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.